The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl

Author:Barry Lyga

ISBN 13:9780618916528

ISBN 10:618916520

Edition:Reprint

Publisher:HMH Books for Young Readers

Publication Date:2007-09-24

Format:Paperback

Pages:320

List Price:$9.99

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For most of his life, Donnie's followed his mother's advice, given when he was first picked on by bullies in grade school: ignore them. He lives mostly under the radar, both at school and at home, sailing through classes and working on his graphic novel, Schemata. His life sucks, but at least he knows what to expect. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl relates what happens when someone notices him really notices him for the first time.

Mysterious goth girl Kyra, dressed in black and with an attitude just as dark, forces her way into his life, renaming him Fanboy. A loner in her own right, Kyra challenges Fanboy's perceptions of his possibilities. When Fanboy's longtime friend Cal starts hanging out with the jocks that have always made Fanboy's life a living hell, Kyra steps in to fill the void. She convinces him that greatness lies within reach, if only he can convince comic book guru Bendis to take a look at his graphic novel . . .

Author Barry Lyga, a comic book fan in his own right, writes intimately and respectfully about how the world sees and is seen by marginalized, creative, and conflicted teens whose only difference from those around them is that they read and write about superheroes.

Publishers Weekly

Life is pretty dismal for the geeky 15-year-old narrator of Lyga's debut novel, who will quickly win over readers. He is mostly ignored by his beer-guzzling, gun-toting stepfather (aka "step-fascist") and pregnant mother (who still calls him Donnie), and harassed at school. His only friend, Cal, ignores him whenever the popular guys come around. Then a goth girl named Kyra sends him a surprise email, and he finds someone to talk to about everything from comics to their disdain for their classmates ("Someone could walk through the halls with a machine gun and kill ninety-nine percent of the people in that place and I wouldn't care," Kyra says). He even shows her the graphic novel he is hoping to publish so he can "get away from here. Start new somewhere else." But while Kyra is always blunt and angry, "fanboy" (as she calls him) begins slowly to piece together just how troubled she is. The story unfolds slowly, and a few resolutions seem scripted, such as the narrator making sudden peace with the step-fascist. But fanboy's comic book obsession feels authentic, in the way he describes famous authors, the difficulty of creating a comic ("You have to decide if the words are important enough to cover up the artwork that's telling half the story"), and even life inside a comic-book convention. His relationship with Kyra seems real, too; they are both truly outsiders, full of confusion and pain ("I don't know how I got here," he says during their big fight. "I don't think she knows, either"). In the end, there is plenty here to keep readers engaged. Ages 14-up. (Oct.) Agent: Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Literary Management. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.